The Blue Plague
by MaleFuntimeFoxy
Summary: Several months after Nick Wilde officially joined the ZPD force, he and his partner Judy Hopps had formed a routine. However, upon being called into a homicide case involving something only they were experts on, that routine is thrown out the window. Can they stop the Nighthowler incident from occurring again on a larger scale?
1. Prologue

Panting, Trent Whitepaw paused to catch his breath. The normally diurnal snowshoe hare was out much later than he'd prefer to be. He'd been running through Tundra Town for what had felt like hours and still hadn't seen any sign of anyone who could help him. The bag over his shoulder felt heavier by the second, but he knew that he couldn't just drop it. The contents were his ticket out of this mess, out of this damned city. His brother had been right, Zootopia was going to be the death of their family.

A pair of headlights illuminating Trent broke him free of his thoughts. He turned to run off, but before he could a loud bang ripped through the chilly night air. A gloved paw was sticking out of the driver's side window, clutching a now smoking revolver. Trent dropped to the ground, his crimson blood staining the snow. As his mind began to fog, he could hear a voice shouting.

"You idiot!" A female voice, unfamiliar, "Why'd you kill him in the snow? No, don't get out of the car! Someone's going to have called the cops, we can't leave tracks. Get us out of here!" There was a loud squeal as the car drove past Trent's body, the few feet of snow covered ground being all that prevented them from retrieving his body. Trent smiled, at least one thing went his way. He closed his eyes, and heard no more.


	2. Chapter 1 - The Whitepaw Case

On most days, Judy and Nick didn't didn't have Chief Bogo hand them a file from the homicide department and direct them to a senior detective's office. Today was not most days. Today, they were heading into Senior Detective Tuskton's office.

Nick opened the door for Judy, letting her in first; which was handy for him because a normally gentlemanly act got him early warning that the office smelt like the inside of a chain smoker's car. Once, Judy was done coughing and had sufficiently waved the air clear he followed her in. The senior detective's office was unkempt, the only professionally kept section being the area between the door and his desk. Two plain wooden chairs were on the near side of the desk, while the detective sat in a cushioned office chair on the far side. The rest of the room was cluttered; stacks of newspapers, files, and magazines lined two of the walls, while shelves in the room were horribly disorganized, one book even falling off a shelf just from the door closing behind them. The detective himself, a European wild boar, was currently simultaneously filing through some paperwork and smoking the largest cigar either of the two officers had ever seen. Judy also noted, with a mild amount of jealousy, that the detective's desk was the only one she'd ever seen in the ZPD that she could comfortable see over without standing on anything.

Tuskton glanced up after the door closed behind Nick. "Take a seat." He grunted, in a way that was simultaneously an order and a request. Once Nick and Judy were seated, he pushed his paperwork aside. "You read the file yet?"

Nick started to shake his head no, but Judy started talking. Rapidly. "Single victim, male, white lapine, ID on the body identified him as one Trent Whitepaw, found after a call was made at 12:05 last night about a gunshot in a residential section of Tundra Town, died from a .44 magnum caliber round to the back of the heart." The detective nodded, mildly impressed, before Judy added. "I don't see why you need us for this."

The boar grunted and pulled out a black backpack from under his desk, blood-stained with a bullet hole ripped right through it. Nick took the bait first, turning the bag around and opening it to look inside. "It's... Empty." He stated after a moment, sounded mildly disappointed.

"No it ain't, reach in." the detective snorted.

Nick did so, finding that the bag was much shallower on the inside than the out, and that he could feel something hard and cool under the bottom. "Ahhh… A secret pocket." The fox noted before finding a seam to pull open. Under the false bottom were two things; a small metal cooler, and an old fashioned brass key. After getting a nod from Tuskton, Nick pulled both out and opened the cooler. Inside the cooler was a set of very familiar blue orbs.

No one in the room needed telling what they were, but Nick and Judy both said it anyway. "Nighthowlers."

The boar nodded. "Now you know why you're here. Nobody on the force has more experience with these things than you. So I've requested to have you two brought on, and first thing I'm having you two do is investigate why the victim had these things." He picked up the key, and tossed it to Judy. Up close, she could see that the key had an address engraved on it; 250 Crowfeather Street. "Start by figuring out where that key goes. Crowfeather's here in city central, so you won't have to go far."

* * *

As Nick and Judy piled into their ZPD issued vehicle, Judy tossed the case file into Nick's lap. "While I'm driving, you might as well read up on what we have to work with."

The fox rolled his eyes before opening the file starting to read over the case as Judy pulled their awesome car out of the ZPD lot. The first page had a recent picture of the victim paperclipped to it, poor kid looked blissfully unaware of his future in it. Turning through it, Trent had no other family members in Zootopia, and the only registered family members lived up north. He'd been picked up a couple times for minor infractions, but so far had kept his nose clean from Nick's standards. Granted, that really just meant that he hadn't flat out mugged anyone yet.

Nick flicked forward in the file a couple pages to the crime scene's initial evaluation. There wasn't much initially to go on. There weren't any tracks in the snow, so it's hard to guess what kind of mammal they were looking for, and a shell casing found a fair way back on the road suggested the shot may have come from a vehicle, and no traffic cams that recorded the exact area the murder took place. "So we've got a mystery shooter, in a mystery car, firing a mystery gun, for a mysterious reason. Well that narrows it down."

"Not necessarily a mysterious reason, Nighthowlers are involved somehow." Judy added.

"Oh that makes it so much bet-AUGH!" Nick cuts himself off as he lurches forward due to Judy suddenly stopping the vehicle. "Carrots!"

Judy motioned for Nick to look out the window. "Look at this."

Outside were two buildings, likely some kind of tenements, with a slight alleyway gap between them. Clearly painted on there sides were large white numbers giving their addresses. 248 and 252. Nick for once didn't have a clever retort to the situation. "I guess we should get out and check them?" Judy shrugged and nodded, parking the car alongside 248 Crowfeather.

As the two hopped out of the car, Nick walked toward 252, glancing briefly at the alleyway between them. Except it wasn't an alley. Between the two buildings was in fact, a much smaller lowered building barely noticeable, except for the cement stairway leading down to its front door, which had the numbers 250 painted on them. "Carrots, I think I found the place." As Judy walked up, Nick gestured toward the small building. "City planning must have had a day off when this place was built." Judy rolled her eyes at the statement, moving down to the door. It was locked, of course, but a bit of light seeping under it suggested someone was inside.

"Huh, I guess we should knock?" Judy suggested, before doing so.

After a few seconds, there was a light click as the door was unlocked as the current occupant answered the knock. "Can I help you officers?" the hare answering the door asked. If Nick's face wasn't covered in fur, it would probably have turned pale white. The mammal answering the door was perfectly identical to one Trent Whitepaw.


	3. Chapter 2- 250 Crowfeather

Okay, so it wasn't a ghost. As the hare explained as he let Judy and Nick into the small house (which Nick noted was absolutely freezing) he was Christopher Whitepaw, Trent's twin brother, who had left Zootopia years ago. He'd only come back on Trent's request recently.

"So…" Christopher began as they all were seated at a coffee table, "What kind of trouble is my brother in? Of the two of us, he was always the least reasonable."

Judy met Nick's eyes, both looking sad at Chris's behalf. "I'm… Sorry Mr Whitepaw, but… Trent was found in Tundra Town last night. He's dead."

There was a long period of silence as Christopher slowly absorbed the information. "Oh… Oh…" He finally manages. "I guess I should have seen this coming, he always got in trouble. I just… I thought he finally turned a new leaf. He had me come down here just to keep the place presentable, said he was finally going to find someone to buy it."

Judy let Christopher have a moment before pulling out the key Tuskton had given her. "This was found hidden in your brother's things, did you know where it goes?" She asked. Christopher took the key, staring at it for a moment. "The only lock it could fit would be the one for the basement I guess, Trent did all of his work there. I'll unlock it for you."

The trio walk further into the house, Chris stopping at a door with a simple, old fashioned bronze lock. Chris unlocked the door, and pushed it open. Down below was a dimly lit cellar, reeking of the smell of rot and dying plants. All three mammals covered their offended noses. "Oh Trent what did you keep down there?!" Chris wondered aloud.

Nick, being the only one with above average night vision, surprising considering all of the carrots the other two eat, was the first one headed down. Down below was a series of of lab-like equipment and blooming blue flowers, but unlike what one would expect, these ones were rotting and diseased. A small, black died diary like book was laying on the table next to the flowers. "How long has he been gone?" Nick asked, as he picked up the diary, flipping through the pages. It was full of long winded, formulaic analyses of the Nighthowlers, so naturally, Nick couldn't make heads or tails of it.

"Less than a day." Chris noted, looking around the room. "Granted, I don't think he was down here at all yesterday."

Nick reached the back of the diary, to his surprise finding a page addressed to Christopher. "Hey, come take a look at this." He said, motioning the two lapines over to him. The page read like a letter…

 _To my brother Christopher,_

 _If you're reading this, chances are I'm either dead or missing. Or you broke into the basement while I was out, but that's more something I would do. I suppose you deserve some explanation for what's going on. About a month ago, I was contacted by an organization that was interested in my one area of expertise, plants. Specifically, illegal plants._

Judy gave Chris a look. The white hare shrugged. "I just thought it was a good thing for him to take up gardening, I didn't know he'd start growing drugs."

Nick rolled his eyes and continued reading.

 _At first, I was more than happy to help out. These Nighthowler flowers are harmless as long as they are not ingested and the liquid made from them is safe as long as it's not touched so I was in no danger during my tests, but overtime the requests of my employers became strange. They had me introduce a strange fluid recently, and the results of that are obvious. The flowers began to wilt and decay, regardless of my efforts to keep them alive. However, they still could be distilled into a similar fluid to the results, but when heated they form into a gas. I don't want to know what my employers have in mind for this, but I doubt any good will come from it. Chris, I know you have no attachment to Zootopia, but I've left you something that might convince you to help stop this, just open the drawer below the flowers._

Chris didn't even resist pulling the drawer open. It was empty, but upon opening it, there was a click as a burner on the other side of the room turned on, heating up a flask filled with a dark blue liquid.


	4. Chapter 3 - A Taste of Fear

The chemical reaction was fast, before anyone could respond, a blue gas was already starting to seep out of the flask.

"Up the stairs, now!" Judy commanded. The two males in the room didn't need to be told twice, covering their muzzles and running up, Judy right on their tails. "We've gotta shut that burner off if we can't get close enough to remove the flask."

Chris nodded. "There should be a circuit breaker… somewhere." Nick turned to stare at the hare as he reached the main floor. "You don't know where it is?!" He exclaimed. "I don't live here!" was the reply. "We'll have to split up, if we want to find the thing before the gas spreads to the rest of the house!"

"Or worse, outside the house." Judy added. "Let's go."

The trio went in separate directions, moving throughout the house.

Judy found herself in a large storage room, cardboard boxes and simple shelving, all stuffed to the brim, lining the walls. "Guess he had to move up everything from the basement." Judy commented. As she began searching through the room, she began to notice a bitter smell in the air.

The more she searched, the smaller the room started to feel. Confining. Entrapping. Judy began to find herself tapping the ground with her feet anxiously as she began moving boxes, her search becoming more desperate and rash as time passed. "Where is it? It has to be in here somewhere!" She exclaimed before pushing aside a stack of boxes. Nothing. The walls of the room were blank. She was wasting time. Next room. Hurry.

Judy rushed to the door, slamming it open and running ahead to go into another room. Every warning signal in her body was telling her she needed to get out of there. That something had gone wrong. That it was too late. She began to go from door to door, looking in each room instead of entering.

After a minute she began to notice the soft blue mist in the air, it hung heavy to the ground, but wisps of it spread out like tendrils or fingers. "How long have I been breathing this in?" Judy asked herself, trying to remain focused. Her thoughts however were interrupted by a series of distant clicks, and the lights suddenly went out, drowning the hallway in darkness. For a minute, Judy felt like she could calm down. Maybe things would be alright.

Then the screaming started.

* * *

Nick had found his way to the kitchen. This reminded him that he'd skipped breakfast. "Great, so now if I go savage at least I'll have two rabbits to chew on." He said to no one in particular. It was partially a joke, partially bitter cynicism from being stuck in this position.

 _Hungry. Food. Hunt._

Nick's instincts were already starting to yell at him. He must've been exposed while in the basement. "I'm not savage yet." He assured himself. "I must have only gotten a whiff." Still he was worried. He still had nightmares of that day, when he and Judy were being chased by Bellwether.

"What are you going to do? Kill me?"

"No. He is."

If anything in their plan had gone wrong, if Bellwether hadn't been satisfied by his act… He didn't want to think about it. Things had turned out alright, and he was going to make sure they stayed that way.

Nick opened his eyes. "Did I pass out?" He asked himself, looking around. The good news was that he was still in the kitchen. The bad news was that the blue gas was all over now. "Time to hurry." Nick said, beginning to search more thoroughly, ripping open cabinets to find any sign of the circuit breaker. Then he saw it. A black metal panel sticking partially out behind the fridge. "Of course. Naturally the thing you need in an emergency is behind the heaviest thing in a room." He began pushing it, barely managing to make enough room to begin flicking the breakers off. Click, click, click, click… CLICK

All the lights went out. The air conditioning stopped. That must have been the master. Nick's night vision would be of handy today at least. He turned to head out, hearing stumbling in one of the nearby rooms. "Here's hoping Judy and hare boy are staying calm. I wonder what they'd be like if they ran into each other while savage…" Nick had a brief mental image of Chris and Judy banging. "Nevermind, I'm going to hurry." He ran, forcing his way into the room the stumbling was coming from.

"N-No! Stay back!" Not Judy, the victim's brother. Panicked, screaming. _Hungry. Prey. Kill._

Nick could feel his lips curling back to reveal his teeth. It would be so easy in the dark, no way the little rabbit could escape him in these tight quarters. And with that white fur, he was practically a glowing beacon. An easy target.

"Nick!"

Nick's ears perked up. _Judy. Friend._ For once he could agree with his instincts. "Carrots? Are you alright?"

"I'm fine Nick, what about you?"

For once, Nick felt the best response was sobering reality. "I don't know." He shrugged and gestured toward the cowering arctic hare. Judy walked over to Chris, forcing him to his feet. "C'mon, I've got you." She said as she pulled him up. "Let's get some air." She nods to Nick. "We need to report this. Now."


End file.
